Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is “rattled” over criticism of Labour’s stance on grooming gangs and is “lashing out” at the “extreme right”, it has been claimed.
Speaking to GB News, commentator Piers Pottinger said Starmer was “out of touch with reality” in his response to calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
In a press conference on Monday, the Labour leader accused those demanding a grooming gangs inquiry of “jumping on the far-right bandwagon.”
The Prime Minister claimed some politicians were “spreading lies and misinformation” over the issue.
Piers Pottinger hit out at Starmer’s remarks in defence of the Government’s handling of grooming gangs
PA / GB News
Pottinger criticised the Prime Minister’s attempts to link the issue to far-right activism.
“The British people are very alarmed at the scale that’s now emerged of this appalling abuse of these young girls,” Pottinger said.
“You don’t have to be far-right to say that the victims are entitled to this,” Pottinger added, highlighting the “long term damage done to these vulnerable children.”
Pottinger also dismissed suggestions that the issue was connected to far-right activism.
“The extreme right have got nothing to do with this,” he told GB News.
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He specifically referenced recent developments involving Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson, describing them as “completely irrelevant” to the grooming gangs scandal.
“It’s only that unfortunate Elon Musk bringing in Tommy Robinson, which is completely irrelevant to this – what it is about is this horrific business,” Pottinger said.
The commentator emphasised that the focus should remain on the victims and their suffering.
“These are victims who are still suffering long term damage done to these vulnerable children, and it’s horrific,” he added.
Pottinger told GB News that Starmer is ‘rattled’ because his time as Director of Public Prosecutions could be ‘under scrutiny’
GB News
Pottinger suggested Starmer’s resistance to a national inquiry could be linked to concerns about his own past role.
“He’s rattled because if there was a national inquiry into this, a proper major inquiry, his time as DPP would come under scrutiny, and he doesn’t want that,” Pottinger told GB News.
In the press conference on Monday, Starmer defended his role within the public prosecutions sector.
He stated: “I actually changed the system because I could see some of the things that were going wrong. Unlike some Tory politicians tweeting about it or talking about it, I got on with changing it.”
